Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Cinco de Mayo Flamingo

Well, no, it's not a Cinco de Mayo flamingo at all - but it is Cinco de Mayo (and here's hoping that run of swine flu/H1N1/whatever we are naming it has done it's worst in Mexico and they can enjoy their day - their week - and the rest of the summer).

And I took a different route on the flamingo, taking a single flamingo photo Jerry took and working with it on 1/4 sheet with the intent of using both opaque and transparent colors (for my color group). I've never used opaques much at all and found when I searched my colors that, according to Daniel Smith, I only have 3 tubes of opaque color and one was a color Sandy M. gave me (love it - a lemony, acidy yellow called Vanadate Bismuth Yellow). So I just mixed a staining Phthalo Blue (GS) with a blob of white gouache and put that down over most of the water - but first I put down the Vanadate Bismuth Yellow in the upper left edge with the intent to go over it with the Phthalo Blue (GS) and get a nice green.

When painting with the opaque Phthalo Blue, I did drop in some pure white gouache (it's Winsor Newton Titanium White) here and there to show the clouds. Then I realized I will need to play a bit more and darken that too blue/too pretty color. So I covered the whole bird with Pebeo Drawing Gum (my favorite miskit).

That's where it stands right now and I may get to play a bit today - in between sweeping, mopping, stripping the kitchen floor and rewaxing, etc. Gotta get it done in between headaches!

8 comments:

It's looking great, Rhonda. I don't use thalo (or winsor) blue--they're both so vibrant, I shy away ... but I love it in your painting; great idea to add the white--the reflections/ripples in the water are fabulous.What size is the painting?

Thanks, Laura. I don't usually use the Phthalo Blue, either, but thought I'd try it - wonder how adding gouache changes its properties? The size is 1/4 sheet only - just a study, really, for the larger one to come.

This is looking great - I love those blues and greens and your water looks so very watery! Hope you get time to carry on with it soon - I too am getting bogged down in headaches - concentrated painting sessions seem like a forgotten dream!

Wonder what it is about these headaches, Cathy? Hope you are painfree soon - it's hard to be creative when your head is pounding. And you are having fall there (my worst time here is fall).Nava, always good to see a post from you - it's easy to be too pretty with watercolor at times! Have to tone down the sweetness :)Ann, thanks, I won't do anything else to the water unless it needs more after the birdie is almost done.

That water is looking great, I love the ruffles (or whatever they are called) and the vivid colors, but most of all I like that it makes me wanna dive in! that have to mean it's really well done, right? can't wait to see the colors on the flamingo

I began my journey with watercolor painting in April 2003, taking weekly lessons for six years before I realized I needed to move on to explore on my own.

I admire the work of so many artists; my sidebar is full of artists who inspire me every day. I also love the freedom of Shirley Trevena, the delicate touch of Ted Nuttall and Hazel Soan, and the power of Mary Whyte. I enjoy visiting art blogs, reading art magazines and watching art DVDs to further my art education and to simply enjoy the beauty that is being created around the world in watermedia these days.

"If you have a burning desire to create art, you will lean into the flame of that desire, rather than shy away from it. You may get burned, or you may enjoy the glowing warmth of success. Whatever the outcome, you will not be able to withstand the pull to create something meaningful, beautiful, and lasting."